"Caregiving" has become a household word in the last
several decades, and it usually refers to being a caregiver
for a loved one. Many of us at some point in our lives find
ourselves trying to survive a situation that appears to be
against all odds.
We all have our story. At one point in my life I was living
alone for the first time, and starting up my Aromatherapy
company on my own. My father developed Alzheimer's, so along
with experiencing the daughter's pain of loosing her Dad, I
was also experiencing my mother's pain of loosing her best
friend since high school. At these times, there are two
words that come with the territory: overwhelm and
impossible.
When I ended up in the hospital with chest pains, it really
struck me that if I didn't take care of myself ... then I
wouldn't be here to take care of my parents. I would actually
end up being in need of care myself. So lying in the hospital
bed I promised myself I would take 2 weeks off and go to the
mountains. Before this event, I didn't believe this was
possible. It was the best thing I could have done, because it
proved to me that is wasn't impossible to take this break for
myself.
My learned belief about the truth of caregiving is that
it's really about giving care to yourself first. This
sounds selfish, however, the irony is that it's more selfish
to put yourself in a state that burdens others because you
didn't take care of yourself. It's the ultimate call for
BALANCE. It's hard to do when you are in the middle of the
fire ... overwhelm and impossible keep popping
up again.
This is no different than the airplane theory: put your
oxygen mask on first, then on your loved one... so that you
will be around to be able to get theirs on them. It's about
oxygen, breathing and life.
So what do we do? It calls for discernment in the deepest
sense of the word. The dictionary defines this as "keenness of
judgement". My discernment prayer is: "May my coming in and
going out be in accord with what Thou shalt have me do."
It's up to us to find ways to do little things that serve
us. If we are doing the right thing for the right reason ...
then when we are truly serving ourselves, we are truly serving
others. Remember this.
Take a few moments and think about the things that work for
you. See Candace's Corner of the World for ideas.
Aromas create instantaneous emotional relief, and mists are
the easiest way to do this. Keep a little bottle with you and
mist as often as you like ... anywhere ... anytime.
The August Special is our OLA Mist Sampler. See This
Month's Spotlight. Click through and see our new colorful
Mist Chart. With the OLA Mist Sampler, let friends and family
choose which one they want. It's fun to see how different they
are for each of us.
